People QuickFacts	Gastonia	North Carolina
  	Population, 2006 estimate    	69,904	8,856,505
  	Population, percent change, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006    	3.3%	10.1%
  	Population, 2000    	66,277	8,049,313
  	Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2000    	7.0%	6.7%
  	Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2000    	25.0%	24.4%
  	Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2000    	13.8%	12.0%
  	Female persons, percent, 2000    	52.7%	51.0% 			
  	White persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	70.2%	72.1%
  	Black persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	25.6%	21.6%
  	American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	0.2%	1.2%
  	Asian persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	1.2%	1.4%
  	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2000 (a)    	Z	Z
  	Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2000    	1.0%	1.3%
  	Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000 (b)    	5.5%	4.7% 			
  	Living in same house in 1995 and 2000, pct 5 yrs old & over    	51.8%	53.0%
  	Foreign born persons, percent, 2000    	5.6%	5.3%
  	Language other than English spoken at home, pct age 5+, 2000    	8.3%	8.0%
  	High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000    	72.2%	78.1%
  	Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000    	20.2%	22.5%
  	Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2000    	22.8	24.0 			
  	Housing units, 2000    	27,857	3,523,944
  	Homeownership rate, 2000    	56.7%	69.4%
  	Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000    	$93,000	$108,300 			
  	Households, 2000    	25,945	3,132,013
  	Persons per household, 2000    	2.50	2.49
  	Median household income, 1999    	$36,924	$39,184
  	Per capita money income, 1999    	$19,592	$20,307
  	Persons below poverty, percent, 1999    	15.0%	12.3%

   	Business QuickFacts	Gastonia	North Carolina
  	Wholesale trade sales, 2002 ($1000)    	577,648	104,331,152
  	Retail sales, 2002 ($1000)    	1,110,179	88,821,486
  	Retail sales per capita, 2002    	$16,372	$10,685
  	Accommodation and foodservices sales, 2002 ($1000)    	119,244	11,237,386
  	Total number of firms, 2002    	5,039	642,597
  	Black-owned firms, percent, 2002    	6.3%	8.1%
  	American Indian and Alaska Native owned firms, percent, 2002    	F	0.9%
  	Asian-owned firms, percent, 2002    	F	2.1%
  	Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2002    	F	1.4%
  	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander owned firms, percent, 2002    	F	Z
  	Women-owned firms, percent, 2002    	22.0%	27.1% 			

   	Geography QuickFacts	Gastonia	North Carolina
  	Land area, 2000 (square miles)    	46	48,710
  	Persons per square mile, 2000    	1,438.9	165.2
  	FIPS Code    	25580	37
 	Counties    	Gaston County
 	

(a) Includes persons reporting only one race.
(b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories.

FN: Footnote on this item for this area in place of data
NA: Not available
D: Suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information
X: Not applicable
S: Suppressed; does not meet publication standards
Z: Value greater than zero but less than half unit of measure shown
F: Fewer than 100 firms

Source: US Census Bureau State & County QuickFacts